Refrigerator

ABSTRACT

A refrigerator includes a cooling system which has a compressor compressing a refrigerant, a condenser condensing the refrigerant compressed from the compressor, a capillary tube converting the refrigerant from the condenser into a low pressure condition, and an evaporator evaporating the refrigerant supplied from the capillary tube. A dryer is provided on a refrigerant line connecting the condenser and the capillary tube to remove impurities included in the refrigerant from the condenser; and a muffler is provided on a refrigerant line connecting the dryer and the capillary tube to decrease a range of fluctuation of the amount of liquid refrigerant flowing from the dryer to the capillary tube.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2005-0002602, filed on Jan. 11, 2005, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a refrigerator decreasing the range of fluctuation of an outflow of a liquid refrigerant flowing from an outlet end of a dryer to a capillary tube to reduce refrigerant noise according to refrigerant flow.

2. Description of the Related Art

Generally, a refrigerator comprises a cabinet forming a storage compartment, a door provided at the cabinet to open and close the storage compartment and a cooling system cooling the storage compartment to keep foods at proper temperature.

As shown in FIG. 1, such a conventional cooling system comprises a compressor 101 compressing a gas refrigerant at low pressure and low temperature to a gas refrigerant at high pressure and high temperature, a condenser 102 condensing the refrigerant supplied from the compressor 101 to a liquid refrigerant, a capillary tube 103 converting the refrigerant from the condenser 102 into low pressure and mid temperature refrigerant, and an evaporator 104 cooling surrounding air while gasifying the refrigerant supplied from the capillary tube 103. Also, the cooling system further comprises a dryer 105 between the condenser 102 and the capillary tube 103, which accordingly forms a closed loop so that the refrigerant is supplied from the condenser 102 in the dryer 105 to remove moisture, and introduced to the evaporator 104 and the compressor 101, in regular sequence.

With this configuration, a storage compartment of a refrigerator is cooled and maintains freshness of foods.

However, in such a conventional cooling system, the amount of the liquid refrigerant introduced to the dryer 105 through the condenser 102 is fluctuated according to conditions of cooling cycle. At this time, as shown in FIG. 2A, the liquid refrigerant introduced to the dryer 105 is filled up over an upper end of the capillary tube 103 inserted to a lower side of the dryer 105. Next, as shown in FIG. 2B, the liquid refrigerant filled up over the upper end of the capillary tube 103 flows to the capillary tube 103. Then a water level of the liquid refrigerant falls again below the upper end of the capillary tube 103. After this, repeating such a procedure, the liquid refrigerant flows periodically to the capillary tube 103. Then, an outflow amount of the liquid refrigerant flowing to the capillary tube 103 is fluctuated according to the amount of the liquid refrigerant introduced to the dryer 105. By such a fluctuation, the liquid refrigerant flowing intermittently to the upper end of the capillary tube 103 causes irregular refrigerant noise, passing through a connecting part of the evaporator 104 which has a diameter that is larger than an outlet end of the capillary tube 103.

As described above, a conventional cooling system has such a problem that refrigerant noise is caused at a connecting part between the outlet end of a capillary tube and an evaporator when a refrigerant flows.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Illustrative, non-limiting exemplary embodiments of the present invention overcome the above disadvantages, and other disadvantages not described above.

An apparatus consistent with the present invention provides a refrigerator reducing a range of fluctuation of the amount of liquid refrigerant flowing from a dryer to a capillary tube to prevent refrigerant noise caused by refrigerant flow.

Additional aspects and/or advantages of the present invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the present invention.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention are also achieved by providing a refrigerator comprising a cooling system which comprises a compressor compressing a refrigerant, a condenser condensing the refrigerant compressed from the compressor, a capillary tube converting the refrigerant from the condenser into a low pressure condition, and an evaporator evaporating the refrigerant supplied from the capillary tube, the cooling system comprising, a dryer provided on a refrigerant line connecting the condenser and the capillary tube to remove impurities included in the refrigerant from the condenser; and a muffler provided on a refrigerant line connecting the dryer and the capillary tube to decrease a range of fluctuation of the amount of liquid refrigerant flowing from the dryer to the capillary tube.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the refrigerator further comprises an auxiliary capillary tube connected between an outlet end of the dryer and an inlet end of the muffler.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an inlet end of the capillary tube is inserted into an outlet end of the muffler.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an inlet end of the capillary tube is connected to an outlet of the muffler.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the muffler comprises an accumulator.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the muffler is arranged in a line with the dryer.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention are also achieved by providing a refrigerator comprising a cooling system which comprises a compressor compressing a refrigerant, a condenser condensing the refrigerant compressed from the compressor, a capillary tube converting the refrigerant from the condenser into a low pressure condition, and an evaporator evaporating the refrigerant supplied from the capillary tube, the cooling system comprising a dryer provided on a refrigerant line connecting the condenser and the capillary tube to remove impurities included in the refrigerant from the condenser; and a muffler provided on a form of an accumulator at a lower part of the dryer and arranged at the right angles to the dryer to reduce a range of fluctuation of the amount of liquid refrigerant flowing from the dryer to the capillary tube.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the refrigerator further comprises an auxiliary capillary tube connected between an outlet end of the dryer and an inlet end of the muffler.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an inlet end of the capillary tube is inserted into an outlet end of the muffler.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and/or other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a cooling system of a conventional refrigerator;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are sectional views showing a dryer and a capillary tube of the conventional refrigerator;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a cooling system of a refrigerator according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are enlarged sectional views showing area “A” in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view shown the cooling system of FIG. 3; and

FIGS. 6A and 6B are sectional views showing arrangement of a dryer and a muffler in a refrigerator according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises a cabinet 20 having a freezing compartment (not shown) and a refrigerating compartment (not shown) partitioned from side to side; a freezing compartment door (not shown) and a refrigerating compartment door (not shown) provided at the cabinet 20 to open and close the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment respectively; and a cooling system cooling the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment so as to keep foods of the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment in proper temperature.

The cooling system comprises a compressor 1 compressing a gas refrigerant at low pressure and low temperature to be changed into high pressure and high temperature, a condenser 2 condensing the refrigerant supplied from the compressor 1 to a liquid refrigerant, a capillary tube 15 converting the refrigerant from the condenser 2 into low pressure and mid temperature, an evaporator 9 cooling surrounding air while evaporating the refrigerant supplied from the capillary tube 15, a dryer 5 provided on a refrigerant line connecting the condenser 2 and the capillary tube 15 to remove impurities included in the refrigerant from the condenser 2, and a muffler 6 provided on a refrigerant line connecting the dryer 5 and the capillary tube 15 to reduce a range of fluctuation of the amount of liquid refrigerant flowing from the dryer 5 to the capillary tube 15. Also, the cooling system further comprises an accumulator 10 provided at a refrigerant line from the evaporator 9 to the compressor 1 to separate a gas-liquid mixed refrigerant from the evaporator 9.

The evaporator 9 is provided at a rear of the cabinet 20, and comprises a refrigerating compartment evaporator 7 forming cool air in the refrigerating compartment and a freezing compartment evaporator 8 forming cool air in the freezing compartment. Also, at the rear of the cabinet 20, it is preferable to provide a refrigerating compartment fan 7 a and a freezing compartment fan 8 a forcibly ventilating cool air generated at the refrigerating compartment evaporator 7 and the freezing compartment evaporator 8 into the refrigerating compartment and the freezing compartment respectively (refer to FIG. 5).

Generally, phase of a refrigerant is changed through the compressor 1 and the condenser 2, and then the refrigerant flows to the evaporator 9 through the dryer 5 and the capillary tube 15. At this time, according to a condition of cooling cycle, the amount of liquid refrigerant introduced to the dryer 5 through the condenser 2 is fluctuated. Also, according to the amount of liquid refrigerant flows in the dryer 5, the amount of liquid refrigerant flowing to the capillary tube 15 is fluctuated. By such a fluctuation, the liquid refrigerant flowing intermittently to an inlet end 15 a of the capillary tube 15 causes irregular refrigerant noise while passing through a connecting part of the evaporator 9, which diameter thereof is larger than that of an outlet end of the capillary tube 15. That is, if both the refrigerating compartment fan 7 a and the freezing compartment fan 8 a operate, there is little refrigerant noise at a connecting part of the refrigerating compartment evaporator 7 because most of liquid refrigerant flows into the dryer 5. However, if either the refrigerating compartment fan 7 a or the freezing compartment fan 8 a operates, the relatively small amount of the liquid refrigerant and the gas refrigerant are mixed with each other, and introduced to the dryer 5. By such a fluctuation of the amount of liquid refrigerant, refrigerant noise occurs at the outlet end of the capillary tube 15 and the connecting part of the refrigerating compartment evaporator 7. The muffler 6 decreases fluctuation of the amount of liquid refrigerant flowing from the dryer 5 to the capillary tube 15 to reduce refrigerating noise generating the connecting part of the evaporator 9.

The compressor 1 and the condenser 2 are arranged in a machine room provided at a lower rear of the cabinet 20.

The gas refrigerant not being liquefied at the condenser 2 in time is phase changed into liquid refrigerant by a cluster pipe 3 to flow into the dryer 5. At this time, a hot pipe 4 is connected to a refrigerant line between the cluster pipe 3 and the dryer 5 to prevent frost at an outer surface of a refrigerator.

An outlet end 4 b of the hot pipe 4 is connected to an inlet 5 a of the dryer 5 to flow a refrigerant. An outlet end 5 b of the dryer 5 is coupled to an inlet 6 a of the muffler 6. It is preferable that an auxiliary capillary tube 12 is connected between the outlet 5 b of the dryer 5 and the inlet 6 a of the muffler 6. Also, the auxiliary capillary tube 12 is the same as the capillary tube 15 to save production costs. However, not being limited to this, the outlet end 5 b of the dryer 5 and the inlet end 6 a of the muffler 6 may be connected in various ways.

The dryer 5 removes impurities such as moisture included in the refrigerant which has passed through the compressor 1, the condenser 2, the cluster pipe 3 and the hot pipe 4. For example, Kaolin is provided in the dryer 5 to absorb moisture included in a refrigerant.

The muffler 6 decreases refrigerant noise generated in the connecting part of the refrigerating compartment evaporator 7 by reducing fluctuation of the amount of liquid refrigerant flowing from the dryer 5 to the capillary tube 15 thereby increasing indoor quietness. Here, it is preferable that the muffler 6 is provided as an accumulator. The accumulator used as the muffler 6 decreases refrigerant noise by reducing fluctuation of the amount of liquid refrigerant flowing to the capillary tube 15, but an accumulator 10 provided on a cooling line from the evaporator 9 to the compressor 1 separates a gas-liquid mixed refrigerant from the evaporator 9. Here, the muffler 6 is arranged in a line with the dryer 5, but arrangement of the dryer and the muffler may change variously according to a structure of a refrigerator.

As shown in FIG. 4A, the inlet end 15 a of the capillary tube 15 is inserted into the outlet end 6 b of the muffler 6, but as shown in FIG. 4B, an inlet end 115 a of a capillary tube 115 is coupled to the outlet end 6 b of the muffler 6. Thus, a coupling structure of the inlet end 15 a, 115 a of the capillary tube 15, 115 and the outlet end 6 b of the muffler 6 may change variously.

By such a configuration, the cooling system of the refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated schematically by referring to FIG. 5 as follows.

First, if gas refrigerant that has been compressed to be changed into high pressure and high temperature at the compressor 1 flows into the condenser 2, the condenser 2 condenses a gas refrigerant at high pressure and high temperature to a liquid refrigerant at high pressure and low temperature. After that, gas refrigerant not being liquefied at the condenser 2 is liquefied through the cluster pipe 3 and then flows in the dryer 5 through the hot pipe 4. The refrigerant flowed in the dryer 5 flows to the muffler 6 through the auxiliary capillary tube 12. Then, the liquid refrigerant jetted after flowing out of the auxiliary capillary tube 12 is received at a lower part of the muffler 6, slowing down speed. Therefore, although the liquid refrigerant flows irregularly from the dryer 5 to the auxiliary capillary tube 12, the range of fluctuation of the amount of liquid refrigerant may decrease because of slowing down speed by the muffler 6 and then flowing to the capillary tube 15. Accordingly, at the outlet end of the capillary tube 12, a regular amount of liquid refrigerant may flow in the refrigerating compartment evaporator 7 to reduce refrigerant noise generated at the connecting part of the refrigerating compartment evaporator 7. After that, the refrigerant flowed in the refrigerating compartment evaporator 7 flows in the accumulator 10 through the freezing compartment evaporator 8. Finally, the gas-liquid mixed refrigerant is separated at the accumulator 10 to return the gas refrigerant alone to the compressor 1 through a suction pipe 11 (FIG. 3).

FIGS. 6A and 6B are sectional views showing arrangement of a dryer and a muffler of a refrigerator according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The muffler of the first embodiment is arranged in a line with the dryer, but it is different from the muffler of the second embodiment which is arranged at right angles to the dryer.

A muffler 116 shown in FIG. 6A is arranged at a right angle to the dryer 5. Then, an auxiliary capillary tube 112 is formed in a shape of a bend and is connected to an outlet end 5 a of the dryer 5 and an inlet end 116 a of the muffler 116. Also, an inlet end 15 a of a capillary tube 15 is inserted into an outlet end 116 a of the muffler 116.

The muffler 116 shown in FIG. 6B is arranged at a right angle to the dryer 5. Then, the auxiliary capillary tube 112 is formed in the shape of a bend and connected to the outlet end 5 a of the dryer 5 and the inlet end 116 a of the muffler 116. Also, an inlet end 115 a of a capillary tube 115 is coupled to the outlet end 116 a of the muffler 116.

In the foregoing embodiment, a dryer and a muffler are arranged in a line or at a right angle, but a dryer and a muffler may be also arranged in an inclined manner.

Although a few exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these exemplary embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents. 

1. A refrigerator, comprising: a cooling system which comprises a compressor compressing a refrigerant, a condenser condensing the refrigerant compressed from the compressor, a capillary tube converting the refrigerant from the condenser into a low pressure condition, and an evaporator evaporating the refrigerant supplied from the capillary tube, the cooling system further comprising: a dryer provided on a refrigerant line connecting the condenser and the capillary tube to remove impurities included in the refrigerant from the condenser; and a muffler provided on a refrigerant line connecting the dryer and the capillary tube to decrease a range of fluctuation of the amount of liquid refrigerant flowing from the dryer to the capillary tube.
 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, further comprising an auxiliary capillary tube connected between an outlet end of the dryer and an inlet end of the muffler.
 3. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the muffler is arranged in a line with the dryer.
 4. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein an inlet end of the capillary tube is inserted into an outlet end of the muffler.
 5. The refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein the muffler is arranged in a line with the dryer.
 6. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein an inlet end of the capillary tube is connected to an outlet of the muffler.
 7. The refrigerator according to claim 6, wherein the muffler is arranged in a line with the dryer.
 8. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the muffler comprises an accumulator.
 9. The refrigerator according to claim 8, wherein the muffler is arranged in a line with the dryer.
 10. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the muffler is arranged in a line with the dryer.
 11. A refrigerator, comprising: a cooling system which comprises a compressor compressing a refrigerant, a condenser condensing the refrigerant compressed from the compressor, a capillary tube converting the refrigerant from the condenser into a low pressure condition, and an evaporator evaporating the refrigerant supplied from the capillary tube, the cooling system comprising: a dryer provided on a refrigerant line connecting the condenser and the capillary tube to remove impurities included in the refrigerant from the condenser; and a muffler provided on an accumulator at a lower part of the dryer and arranged at right angles to the dryer to reduce a range of fluctuation of the amount of liquid refrigerant flowing from the dryer to the capillary tube.
 12. The refrigerator according to claim 11, further comprising an auxiliary capillary tube connected between an outlet end of the dryer and an inlet end of the muffler.
 13. The refrigerator according to claim 11, wherein an inlet end of the capillary tube is inserted into an outlet end of the muffler.
 14. The refrigerator according to claim 12, wherein an inlet end of the capillary tube is inserted into an outlet end of the muffler. 